Hairopoulos: Near-dream season has Texas A&M energized, but Aggies aim to become permanent SEC fixture

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Thomas Campbell-US PRESSWIRE/US PRESSWIRE

BREAKING DOWN THE HEISMAN FIELD THROUGH WEEK 12: In the span of a few weeks, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel has gone from Heisman longshot to likely favorite. The Aggie freshman didn't have much to prove Saturday against an FCS opponent, but he got to watch as a handful of other top candidates tripped over their own feet. So just where does Manziel sit in his quest to become the first-ever freshman to win the Heisman? We break down how our Heisman ballot would look through 12 weeks of the season.

If inclined, Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin could issue a big, juicy “told you so” to the many and vocal doubters who roasted the Aggies’ move to the Southeastern Conference.

As it is, Loftin has received apologies, he said this week, from some of those who lambasted the break from the traditional rivalries of the Big 12, belittled the Aggies’ chances of being competitive in football or panned the selection of first-year coach Kevin Sumlin to lead the debut season in the league that’s birthed the past six BCS national champions.

Behold the power of a near-dream season.

“We’ve shown them we can be competitive in the nation’s most difficult conference,” said Loftin, a key figure in the conference swap he termed a “100-year decision,” which took effect on July 1.

In Saturday’s regular-season finale for both teams, A&M hosts Missouri, which hasn’t enjoyed near the same level of on-field success in its first season in the SEC.

If the Aggies (9-2, 5-2 SEC) win, they’ll achieve their first 10-win season since 1998. A berth in the Bowl Championship Series is still at least a possibility, and redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel has, improbably, emerged as the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.

“This is off the charts,” said new athletic director Eric Hyman, who came from fellow SEC member South Carolina. “You just don’t do what we’ve done this year. It’s unheard of.”

A&M’s building momentum exploded on Nov. 10 when the Aggies upset then-No. 1 Alabama, the winner of two of the last three national championships, in front of a CBS audience and 100,000 Crimson Tide fans at their deafening Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Loftin looked around and took it in — the stunned-to-silence fans, mouths hanging open — before joining in the traditional swaying-and-singing of the “Aggie War Hymn” in the victorious pocket of the stadium.

“Who’d have thunk it?” Loftin said. “This time, this place, this success. When you look back a couple months ago, who’d have thought that? We didn’t expect this to happen.”

A sweet side note to the Alabama win? A&M loves pointing out that television data showed the game garnered a huge rating in, of all places, Austin, home to the University of Texas.

The Sumlin factor

The Longhorns, A&M’s truest rivals even if the teams no longer meet on the field, helped spur the Aggies’ jump to the SEC with the development of the Longhorn Network. More Aggies came on board for the move to the SEC than when it almost happened in 2010 — proudly marking everything from T-shirts to trucks with the SEC logo — but some still had doubts. Some outsiders scoffed at how A&M would fit in.

Texas delivered a nice kick in the rear as A&M exited. Texas won the final football meeting for the foreseeable future, on Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, 2011, with a 27-25 win in Aggieland. Justin Tucker hit a 40-yard field goal as time expired.

But the loss, saddling A&M with a 6-6 regular-season record, triggered the firing of Mike Sherman and the hiring of Sumlin, whose recruiting skills and no-huddle spread offense lifted Houston to unforeseen heights in Conference USA.

“He understood what made young men tick,” said Loftin, who noted A&M looked at eight coaches for the job.

Hyman was not involved in Sumlin’s hire as he didn’t arrive at A&M until this summer. But when Hyman accepted the job, his colleagues called, praising Sumlin. And when Hyman visited Sumlin’s office in August for a two-hour, get-to-know-you chat, Hyman came away thrilled. He went home and told his wife that of the coaches he’d worked with previously, such as South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier and TCU’s Gary Patterson, Sumlin “was just right up there.”

Changing the mind-set

One of Sumlin’s biggest charges was to alter not just the Aggies’ physical stamina, but also their psyche. They lost game after game in 2011 by blowing double-digit leads. Then in A&M’s debut Sept. 8 at Kyle Field, the Aggies led higher-ranked Florida by 10 in the first half, only to fall, 20-17.

“You can go one of two ways at that point,” Sumlin said. “With all the criticism, people trying to talk about what happened in the past in the second half, these guys didn’t let that affect them this year.”

A&M’s only other loss was 24-19 to LSU on Oct. 20. A&M went 6-0 away from home. The Aggies, behind one of the nation’s top offensive lines and Manziel, lead the SEC in total offense (543.7 yards per game) and scoring (43.5 points per game).

Sumlin has repeatedly raved about the upperclassmen, particularly the seniors who will be playing their final game at Kyle Field.

“We had completely new philosophies on offense, defense, special teams,” Sumlin said. “New coaches, new league. And those guys … said, ‘Hey, let’s go with this.’”

Several players and even the typically composed Sumlin said Saturday will be emotional.

“Everyone’s going to cry,” said senior receiver Ryan Swope, who nearly left early to pursue an NFL career. “It’s going to go down in history to be the first senior class to compete in the SEC. It’s pretty cool to be a part of. It’s also cool to be part of a winning season.”

Then there’s Manziel, who possesses a dazzling ability to evade defenders paired with an improving ability to deliver the ball just-so. A&M received notice last week that Manziel is one of about a dozen players officially in contention for the Heisman, a save-the-date of sorts. If he’s named as the winner on Dec. 8 in New York, he’ll be the first freshman to win the Heisman and A&M’s second winner, joining John David Crow, who won in 1957.

One win at a time

Missouri (5-6, 2-5 SEC) stole most of the headlines at this summer’s SEC media days, storming into the new league with bluster. A&M, though, proved it belonged on the field, gaining legitimacy win by win. But Loftin attests, while this season has been special, the Aggies would’ve been doing the right thing going to the SEC, even without the delicious vindication.

Loftin said the school has already gained a national platform that he hopes will bring more exposure to not just the athletic department, but to the university. Collegiate licensing revenues were up 26 percent from August 2011 through July 2012, leading into the first SEC season. “The A&M brand” is the buzz phrase among Aggies administrators.

Regionally, A&M enjoyed the 16.3 rating (about 115,000 homes) in Austin for the Alabama game because it shows people throughout Texas are paying attention despite the Big 12 divorce. A&M wants to hang its hat on being the only SEC school in Texas. And Loftin wants Texans to feel they have a choice, and there’s not just one school that is the state’s school.

That’s bold stuff for a school that’s long felt overshadowed and a football program that’s been branded an underachiever.

“Our fan base is very energized right now, with excitement we haven’t seen in some time,” Loftin said. “My prayer is that it’s not going to be a one-year thing.”

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